Katsuki Bakugo: Character Explained Part 4 – What Has Changed And What Has Remained The Same

With the battle between All For One and All Might raging around Bakugo with him wedged in the middle fighting against the villains to trying to get out of the position that he’s in with no clear path to escape, then dashing out of the ruble comes Iida and Izuku carrying Kirishima, he has his hand outstretched beckoning Bakugo to take it and escape this mess and with no hesitation he takes it. If anyone else would have done that Bakugo may not have taken the opportunity to escape and instead relied on himself to get out on his own. I know Bakugo realizes the position that he’s in and All Might can’t go all out with him there but before with the black goop coming out of him that reminds me of the whole sludge villain incident and he would at a particular low point and would need a lot more time than they had to get him out of their to cure his irrationality. If we look back at the scene all Bakugo can see is Kirishima and Izuku cannot be seen at all it’s like he has been blended into the background, when Bakugo looks at Kirishima at that moment all he can see is Kirishima asking him follow him on the way out. Kirishima makes the irrational part of Bakugo’s brain become rational. Whenever they are together Bakugo doesn’t blow up as much or makes stupid tactical decisions when they are put in the same situation with each other.

This happens due to how Kirishima and Bakugo compliment each other in terms of personality. Where Kirishima hated his quirk when it first activated as it harmed him and was quite generic in nature and ends up outraged when someone has a similar quirk which led to a brief rivalry with Tetsutesu from class 1B that didn’t end until Kirishima beat him in a arm wrestling match, while on the other hand Bakugo loved his as it was powerful and unique to the point that during the time before he entered high school his classmates worshiped the very ground he walked upon. They are what each other lacks or what have too much of, Kirishima with his inferiority complex and Bakugo with his superiority complex and with such a complex a person has trouble conveying feelings of gratitude as when Bakugo say’s he took Kirishima’s hand to get out of All Might’s way, that he just grabbed his hand out of convince denying there friendship verbally but not internally. Bakugo at this point in the series let’s his actions speak rather than his words. The earliest example is after the sludge villain attack he respectively didn’t abuse Izuku for 10 months, a silent thank you if there ever was one. In this situation he’s acknowledging the friendship with the repayment of cash, beating up Kaminari to get a chuckle out of his classmates, not using explosions in the provisional license exam when he was around Kirishima and Kaminari and verbally uplifting Kirishima when he is down, all are done after the rescue arc. With Bakugo rescued there is a look of trepidation on his face, unlike last time with the sludge villain incident the hero aren’t telling him he is an awesome hero, this time they are asking if he’s okay. He doesn’t say anything instead just having this heavy cloud of shame over his head at being captured and what that has lead to. He then retreats home where we get a glimpse into his home life and see how he’s treated by those closet to him and it paints a questioning atmosphere leading to us asking was Bakugo abused.

Though his mother has been seen to slap him and ignore him on occasion she is not abusive from all things considered, she does care for him as when she interacts with Aizawa remaking, “I supposed that’s why your words at the interview made me so happy, Mr. Aizawa. Ah…this school sees Katsuki for who he really is. That’s what I thought.” When speaking about his well being she says, “ For a while there, I’ll admit I was worried. I wondered what would become of my little boy. Lo and behold, he came back home without even a scratch.” To allege that Mitsuki holds no maternal concern for Bakugo is simply not true. She knows of his potential but also knows about outer shell of superiority and arrogance makes him a difficult person to deal with. She knows, she and her husbands actions have had a hand in spoiling him and also similar to his teachers and classmates she does not care for his attitude the way she has come to deal with him is to give his personality right back to him which does not seem to be the right way to take it but in accounting for Bakugo’s behavior it seems to be the right course of action as the only way Izuku was able to get Bakugo to listen was to yell right back at him.

If Horikoski wanted he could have explored an abusive past with Bakugo but he didn’t, the author doesn’t beat around the bush and explores topics like this with Shouto. For the violence comment, that doesn’t confirm any sort of abuse, especially not on the level of what Todoroki endured. From what I can tell it was possibly an attempt at ironic humor, that just seems to fail. Others want Bakugo to be abused because it would be easier to explain his behavior than massive ego fluffing but the fact remains that the cycle of abuse does not refer to trans-generational abuse. Much in the same vein as “queer coding,” “cycle of abuse” is being used erroneously. The term comes from a social cycle theory developed in 1979 by Lenore E. Walker that specifically examines the pattern of behavior in an abusive intimate partner relationship, not a parent-child relationship. The only scenario in which this phrase would be applicable is if the topic were about Endeavor and his wife’s relationship but it’s not. With the constant incorrect use of the phrase, the idea that it was imminent that Bakugo would become a bully is also a common misconception. With it’s reparation in media, it’s not unbelievable that people would come to the collusion about this, but the study’s show that it’s rare that children who were abused become abusers later in life. In addition to that, Katsuki doesn’t really react to his mother the way the average abused child does to an abusive parental figure. He doesn’t appear afraid in her presence, he openly challenges her, calls her names and argues with her. This isn’t to say this is present in all abused children, but the way Bakugo acts does not lead to the conclusion he was an abused child, just a rather prideful child who has a tendency to blow up a lot. Especially when he doesn’t get what he wants.

When the provisional license exam arc ends with him not receiving his license, mainly on how he treated the civilians during the rescue portion of the exam, he is devastated and I’m celebrating because finally this bastard is being punished for his shitty behavior. Aizawa has punished him in past by stepping in and saving Izuku from Bakugo and trust me the narrative has punished him plenty being saved by Izuku from the Sludge villain, winning the sports festival, being placed with the number 4 hero and not learning a thing, being saved once again after he was kidnapped, then being kidnapped again. But never has been punished for the way he acts by authority that is the hero association. All his life he has gotten away with being a total abusive asshole and now he has to pay up. He feels so weak now and the cause for this feeling is with Izuku, for him everything leads back to Izuku.

After All Might talks with his parents Bakugo goes to have a chat with All Might about Izuku asking what he meant to him. He’s oddly subdued in this scene I have very rarely seen him like this the closet scene to this was after the sludge villain except he’s not as angry and just subdued here. Bakugo has a swirling ball guilt inside of him as a series of events that has occurred surrounding him has caused All Might to retire. He was watching Izuku who was looking up at All Might on the screen when he said “Your Next.” Izuku started crying, when Izuku is under emense emotional strain does he cry but it’s usually loud and disruptive to the point people get doused in his tears, but these tears that he’s shedding are quiet tears and when he sheds those it’s usually for heart break or worry, a friend turning on him or trying to save a an old pal who is in trouble. While All Might is someone he look’s up to he should be blubbering like a baby so for him to being crying in such a way tells Bakugo knows that there relationship is much more deeper than what is shown on the surface. He knows the answer to the question but he ask anyway he wants conformation and then he asks about what Izuku means to him as he can tell that they are close. Bakugo doesn’t appear jealous just disappointed maybe there was something more to Izuku if All Might found something worthy inside of himself and take him under his wing. The man who he has looked up to his entire life, the person he wants to become and yet even though All Might has been teaching him for about 6 months they are no more closer then they were at the beginning of the school year, yet Izuku has gotten close to him, a person he thought would amount to nothing. He feels regret here as he’s missed out on something that he couldn’t see a quality that he skipped over on and was not able to comprehend and for a while he doesn’t think about him but after the mess with the provisional license exam he begins to think of everything that’s happened so far and does the only thing he can understand what All Might saw in him, by beating him up.